Vandana Shiva (Leaving Cert Politics and Society): Revision Notes

Vandana Shiva

Vandana Shiva (1952-) is a prominent Indian environmentalist, social activist, author, and fierce critic of globalisation. Born in the foothills of the Himalayas, Shiva's early life was shaped by her parents - her father was a forestry official and her mother a farmer. These influences, particularly her mother's dedication to farming and the earth, formed the foundation of both her feminism and environmentalism.

Background and education

Shiva's academic foundation lies in science and the philosophy of science. This dual background is crucial to understanding her opposition to certain aspects of globalisation that she sees as destructive to both environment and society. Her scientific training, combined with her philosophical outlook, led her to become a vocal critic of the Green Revolution and the development of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) in Indian farming practices.

Core philosophical beliefs

Scientific interconnectedness

Shiva fundamentally rejects the mechanistic worldview that emerged from the Industrial Revolution. She argues that "the Industrial Revolution gave a mechanistic idea of the universe... the idea that everything is hard matter, unrelated to each other is still guiding a lot of science...genetic engineering is based on that hard matter, genes in isolation, genes determine everything."

Instead, she champions a philosophy of interconnectedness. Her doctoral research on quantum theory convinced her that "real science is the science of interconnectedness, of non-separation, that everything is related... the life, the pollinators, the food produced...all of it in the whole." This belief that everything in nature is connected forms the cornerstone of her environmental activism.

The need for paradigm change

Shiva believes that current approaches to development are fundamentally flawed. As she states: "We need a new paradigm for living on the earth because the old one is clearly not working." She accords spiritual importance to seeds, drawing on Vedic tradition in Hinduism, claiming that "everything begins as seed ...the source of life and the source of the renewal of life."

Criticism of the Green Revolution

Context and background

The Green Revolution was an international effort beginning in the 1960s to tackle world hunger through new, high-yielding, disease-resistant varieties of food grains in developing countries. Led by American scientist Dr Norman Borlaug, it was initially successful in Mexico and India, leading to Borlaug receiving the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

Shiva's opposition

However, Shiva strongly criticises what she sees as the devastating consequences of these developments for farmers. She argues that the Green Revolution's use of fertilisers and pesticides has led to:

• Environmental pollution
• Loss of indigenous seed diversity
• Loss of traditional agricultural knowledge
• Dependence of poor farmers on costly chemicals

Shiva characterises the Green Revolution as maldevelopment, arguing that "maldevelopment militates against equality in diversity and imposes the ideologically constructed category of western technological man as the uniform measure of the worth of classes, cultures and genders."

Globalisation as violence

Central to Shiva's thinking is her view of globalisation as fundamentally violent. She argues that "globalisation is a violent system, imposed and maintained through use of violence." She sees this violence manifesting in economic, environmental, and social forms, describing it as "a war of monocultures against diversity, of big against small, of war time technologies against nature."

Shiva particularly criticises large Western chemical corporations, claiming that "technologies of war are becoming the basis of production in peacetime." She points to the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam now being used as herbicide, alongside other chemical weapons being repurposed for agriculture.

Seed freedom and biopiracy

The patenting problem

A crucial aspect of Shiva's activism concerns seed freedom. She opposes the patenting of seeds, which became possible after the 1994 TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights). Shiva argues that patenting seeds represents "a claim to creation" where wealthy corporations seek to "own and control life."

She compares this to historical imperialism, likening it to "the new Vatican" and "the exploitation of the corporations comparable to the second coming of Columbus." The knowledge of traditional farmers, she argues, "is now being claimed as inventions of western corporations and scientists."

Navdanya movement

Shiva founded Navdanya, a movement dedicated to protecting seed integrity from domination by Western biotechnology companies and patenting controls. This organisation promotes her wider philosophical and ecological beliefs about seed freedom and the right of farmers to save and use traditional seeds.

She describes corporate actions as "biopiracy" and equates patenting with "biological theft". Her goal is to ensure that "the diversity of species, their intrinsic value, their integrity is vital. The right of our farmers to have seed, the most fundamental source of a livelihood in a poor country."

Case study: Monsanto and BT cotton

She argues that if biotechnology corporations recognised humanity's dependence on biodiversity, "they would not deploy genetically engineering BT crops which kill bees and butterflies, they would not create herbicide resistant plants and wipe out plant diversity."

Ecofeminism and gender justice

Connecting women and earth

Shiva's ecofeminism connects the treatment of women with the treatment of the earth. She argues that patriarchal society treats women similarly to how capitalist society treats the environment. Through her organisation Navdanya, she promotes the idea that women's vital role in sustaining both earth and economy should be recognised.

Critique of GDP-based economics

She criticises "the reductionist mechanistic paradigm of 'growth' based on GDP, which measures only what is commodified and traded, not what nourishes us. Economies based on greed and profits have exploited the earth and women. It has created the illusion of limitless growth on a planet with limits."

Vision for gender equity

In her book 'Earth Democracy,' Shiva advocates for true gender equality, stating that "gender equity requires seeing women in their full humanity- as producers and creators, as custodians of culture, as political decision makers, as spiritual beings." Her ecofeminism emphasises that all people should be equally responsible for caring for both earth and society.